Staff Attorney

Energy Northwest is expanding its legal team! We are seeking an experienced attorney with a robust background in contracts and regulatory matters to join us and provide crucial support to the legal department during the Extended Power Uprate for the Columbia Generating Station. This role will support Legal Services as a generalist, offering the unique opportunity to tackle a wide range of legal issues on behalf of the agency.

The Senior Counsel reports directly to the Legal Services Supervisor. This position provides legal advice, counsel and services to all organizations within Energy Northwest regarding a wide range of activities without significant oversight. In addition to providing legal services to the company, primary responsibilities include ensuring procedural and legal compliance in a number of regulatory areas such as environmental, nuclear, ethics, industrial safety, procurement, Washington’s State Public Records Act (PRA), employment, and managing major contractual transactions and litigation without significant day-to-day supervision.

• Provide legal support and advice with respect to nuclear licensing and nuclear regulatory compliance issues, including but not limited to Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigations and enforcement matters.
• Negotiate, draft and review a wide variety of diverse contracts, leases, waivers, and other agreements on behalf of Energy Northwest with limited oversight or supervision.
• Provide legal support in a number of regulatory areas such as environmental, ethics, industrial safety, and employment, including but not limited to attending meetings and interfacing with all levels of staff at Energy Northwest.
• Establish and maintain programmatic and procedural guidance for implementation of the PRA including oversight of the Paralegal in analyzing and evaluating PRA requests, determining responsive records, establishing search criteria, and ensuring timely communication with requesters to establish commitments. Provide legal review and support of PRA responses.
• Protect Energy Northwest’s financial and legal interests by initiating and/or defending Energy Northwest in contract claims, contract requests for equitable adjustments, lawsuits, administrative hearings, administrative investigations, and/or directing the conduct of such litigation by outside counsel.
• Provide legal advice to Energy Northwest staff and governing boards on both policy and operation level matters on an ongoing basis.
• Prepare budgets for significant transactional matters and litigation and assure that, to the extent practicable, those matters are conducted within budget.
• Team participant in strategic development of energy transactions.
• Must participate on the Emergency Response team (ERO) when designated.
• Must support the biennial refueling outage.

• Requires a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from an accredited law school and seven years of aggregate experience practicing as an attorney. A record of continual learning and training and the ability to obtain license through the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) by Motion within one year.
• Must meet and maintain nuclear requirements for Unescorted Plant Access.
• At least two or more years of previous legal experience at a law firm, municipality, or public utility district doing legal work related to one or more of the following areas: employment, contracts, litigation, environmental, and energy transactions.

• Requires a Juris Doctorate (JD) degree from an accredited law school and five years of aggregate experience practicing as an attorney. A record of continual learning and training and the ability to obtain license through the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) by Motion within one year.
• Must meet and maintain nuclear requirements for Unescorted Plant Access.
• At least two or more years of previous legal experience at a law firm, municipality, or public utility district doing legal work related to one or more of the following areas: employment, contracts, litigation, environmental, and energy transactions.

• Requires a Juris…